Ekweremadu Overlooks EFCC, Says Nigeria Needs An ‘Independent’ Anti-corruption Agency
Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President[/caption]
Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, has said that a strong, independent, decentralised and impartial anti-corruption agency, operating within clearly and established rules, is what Nigeria needs.
Ekweremadu, while speaking at a public service lecture at the University of Ibadan on Friday evening, added that despite the various anti-corruption efforts, it was clear that corruption has shown no sign of abating in the country.
The lecture which was organised by the University’s Alumni Association held at the Trenchard Hall. The Deputy Senate President spoke on “Federalism and The Legal Framework for Combating Corruption in Nigeria”
According to him, strong anti-corruption institutions give hope to the citizens.
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“Dealing with corruption is difficult and challenging, but it is not without hope either,” he said.
“We need a far-reaching and in-depth re-orientation. Importantly, Nigeria being a federation, the war against corruption must itself be developed, and generalized, not centralized as it is currently the case”
He called for the establishment of state policing system, which according to him makes the process of fighting corruption “easier”.
The Deputy Senate President explained that state policing will create employment and lessen the incidents of fraud while the incident of corruption is easily detected and tracked.
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He said that the political will to fight corruption, must be blind to political affiliation, friendship, ethnicity, religion and family.
“Decentralised policing will make the task of preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting certain offences and small scale corruption matter easier.
“From the clerks who would never be able to trace your file unless you grease their palms, to security men who would not let you in or claim that “Oga no dey” if you are not the type that part with “kola” each time you visit.”
He said that Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended states that “The state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.
“However, the arduous responsibility of abolishing all corrupt practices and abuse of power can never be possible without the right political will and cooperation by Nigerians”, he said.
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